London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Sep 12, 2026

Police Scotland make repeat visits to break up illegal house parties

Police Scotland make repeat visits to break up illegal house parties

Police Scotland's latest data on Covid breaches reveals that officers are repeatedly visiting the same properties to break up parties.


At the beginning of the university year, police were called out to a student halls of residence in Edinburgh

The call logs, which have been obtained by BBC Scotland, also show that a number of people have been handed multiple fines.

On 28 August the police were given the power to break up house parties contravening social gathering rules.

Since that date, officers have been called out nearly 5,000 times.

Police break up hundreds of parties every week

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made it clear that giving Police Scotland enhanced powers was necessary to ensure socialising continued in a safe and responsible manner.

The data, received through a Freedom of Information request, listed incidents which included:

*  a party of 10 people found at a Glasgow address, where the householder had previously been issued with two fixed penalty notices (FPNs)

*  in the north east six people were warned after being found at two different parties in the same evening

*  officers attended a Glasgow address following a report of a noisy party. Fines were issued to five people - four of whom had previously received Covid-related fines

*  in Ayrshire people attempted to jump out of the windows of a property when police arrived. This was the second time officers had attended the address having previously issued a fine to the householder

*  and police went to a Renfrewshire address where they gave fines to two party-goers who had previously been issued with a warning

At the mid-November point, 68% of house parties had taken place in council areas under tier three restrictions, and 28% in tier two areas.

Police Scotland declined to comment on whether such incidents suggested fixed penalty notices had failed to be a sufficient deterrent.

'Spreading the virus'


Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said: "Where officers encounter wilful and persistent breaches they will act decisively to enforce the law - this includes consideration of serious charges including culpable and reckless conduct.

"The chief constable has repeatedly underlined that house parties and relatively small gatherings can have a significant influence on spreading the virus and are not permitted."



Police data showed that officers had been alerted to 4,879 gatherings between 28 August and 22 November.

In the first part of November police attended about 300 incidents each week with 227 of them deemed to have breached restrictions.

However, the force has suggested the number is likely to be greater as it only counted formal call-outs and not incidents on patrol.

So far, more than 2,000 fines have been issued and 279 arrests have been made.



The information also revealed that the proportion of parties breaching restrictions is increasing in areas like Edinburgh, Glasgow and Tayside.

Police Scotland said "it will continue to explain the rules to the public and encourage people to take personal responsibility and do the right thing".



In the week covering Halloween and Bonfire Night, 84% of the 365 parties that took place were in breach of coronavirus restrictions.

The incidents included:

*  officers attending a Glasgow party where they found three people who had been tested for Covid-19 earlier that day - but had not yet received their results

*  in Tayside a fight broke out when police attended a house party with 60 "intoxicated" people

*  police were tipped off about a party in Glasgow with 200 people present and loud music playing. Officers said none of them were wearing face masks or socially distancing. More than 60 fines were issued

*  and more than 20 people attended a Dundee party, with many of them escaping through the back garden when police arrived

A Scottish government spokesman said: "Ministers have been consistently clear that we want to see these laws work through high levels of public compliance, rather than relying on enforcement."

Social media advertising


There has also been concerns that large-scale parties are being promoted on social media platforms.

Police document highlights included:

*  Forth Valley police being alerted to an on-going party outside Bonnybridge which had been advertised on social media. On arriving, officers found a 48-seater bus, numerous cars outside and more than 100 party-goers

*  and the police were called to an Edinburgh party where the location was disclosed 24 hours before the event.

'I won't be paying fines just for meeting my friends'


"Kate" has been issued four fines totalling £1,240 for attending illegal house parties across Glasgow.

But she insists she won't be paying "just for meeting my friends through a lockdown with rules that don't make sense anyway".

Her most recent fine was for £940.

"That's the one I'm most annoyed about as the police officers were awful to everyone in the party," she says. "They were trying to make us feel scared."

Despite Police Scotland's insistence on warning first and fining later, Kate says when officers arrived "they just started giving out the fines even though we would have been happy to leave."

She says she has been fined for going to small gatherings, as well as house parties with up to 60 people.

"But that's the fault of the people renting out the flats and houses for allowing us to go in the first place," she says.

She's also not worried about transmitting or contracting coronavirus at the events.

"I've been to multiple parties and not one person I know has had it from the parties".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Reviews Nationwide Emergency Alert Tests After Systems Meet Reliability Targets
UK Seeks Faster Rail Links Across Northern Industrial Corridors
British Business Bank Allocates £150 Million for High-Growth Companies in Northern England
BBC Warns Staff Strikes Are Possible Amid Pay Dispute and £500 Million Savings Drive
UK Backs Short Extension of UN Sudan Sanctions Regime
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Defends Early Prison Release Reforms and Growth Strategy
Reform UK Faces Scrutiny Over Alleged Effort to Circumvent Foreign Donation Rules
UK Analysts Warn Tax Rises or Spending Cuts May Be Needed to Preserve Fiscal Headroom
Jaguar Land Rover Plans Up to 4,000 Job Cuts in £1.7 Billion Cost-Saving Drive
UK Chancellor Warns of Difficult October Budget as Borrowing Costs Rise
UK Declares Israeli Occupation of West Bank Unlawful and Expands Sanctions
UK House of Commons Rejects Assisted Dying Bill for England and Wales
English Councils to Gain Power to Introduce Tourist Taxes by 2028
Kemi Badenoch Reshuffles Conservative Shadow Cabinet
Firefighters Make Progress Containing Major Wildfires in South Wales
John Lewis Partnership Reports £124 Million Loss
Study Says UK AI Data Centres Will Create Only a Quarter of Forecast Jobs
UK Government Considers Higher Industrial Water Prices Amid Supply Pressures
Andy Burnham Holds First Call With Donald Trump as UK Prime Minister
NHS Records Busiest Summer on Record as Heatwaves Drive Hospital Admissions
Home Secretary Orders Police Crackdown on Far-Right Anti-Migrant Vigilantes
UK Supreme Court Rules Northern Ireland Religious Education Curriculum Breaches Human Rights Standards
Markets Price in Four Bank of England Rate Rises by Next Summer
House of Commons Prepares Free Vote on Assisted Dying Bill
UK Government Bans Trade With Israeli Settlements in Occupied Territories
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Artificial Intelligence Investment Supports Expansion
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister After Keir Starmer Resigns
John Lewis Partnership Loss Widens to £124 Million
UK Government to Put White Working-Class Social Mobility at Centre of Equality Policy
McLaren Plans £450 Million Technology Investment Creating 1,000 UK Jobs
UK Chancellor Faces Calls for Wealth Taxes and Public Ownership in Autumn Budget
English Mayors to Gain Powers to Impose Uncapped Overnight Tourist Taxes
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Government Against Bank Windfall Taxes
UK Air Traffic Control Outage Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
UK Imposes Trade Ban on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank
UK Borrowing Costs Surge as Middle East Tensions Push Long-Term Gilt Yields to Highest Since 1998
Buckingham Palace Says Prince Harry and Meghan Will Not Resume Official Royal Duties
UK Treasury Faces Calls to Scrap £100,000 Childcare Support Threshold
Trades Union Congress Urges Labour Government to Rewrite Migration Policy
Riot Police Deployed After Anti-Migrant Protests Turn Violent in Portsmouth
UK Considers Replacing Some Disability Cash Payments With Direct Services
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Chancellor Against Higher Banking Taxes
UK Announces New Sanctions Targeting Israeli Settlements in West Bank
Metropolitan Police Investigate Alleged Illegal Donations to Reform UK
UK Charges Wiltshire Man With Assisting Russian Intelligence
UK Orders Urgent Review After Air Traffic Failure Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
King Charles Confirms Prince Harry and Meghan Will Remain Private Citizens
Labour Selects Former Child Refugee for By-Election in Keir Starmer’s Former Seat
Foreign Private Equity Accelerates Takeovers of London-Listed Industrial Companies
×